Kashyap Patel, Medical Director and Consultant at Blue Cross Blue Shields of South Carolina, Past President at Community Oncology Alliance, shared on LinkedIn:
“Today I turn 65, and it is a day of quiet reflection.
Thirty years ago today, I walked into the U.S. Embassy in London and was granted a green card in the EB-1 category for individuals of ‘extraordinary ability’; Five days later, on October 6, 1996, my family and I arrived in America. Growing up in Gujarat, my father taught me a principle rooted in Gandhis teachings: You walk with people. You dont walk over them; you dont talk over them.
That lesson has guided every chapter since. For 25 years, the Carolinas have been home. With an extraordinary team at Carolina Blood and Cancer Care Associates, we built a cancer practice serving about seven counties in the upper part of South Carolina, and we have never turned away a single patient because of inability to pay.
We wrote off close to $50 million in collectible debt, we have never used a collection agency, and through our No One Left Alone (NOLA) Foundation, CCORN, and our policy work with the Community Oncology Alliance and on Capitol Hill, we have tried to close the gaps that leave rural and underserved patients behind.
This year I was humbled to receive the Hind Rattan (‘Jewel of India’) Award from the NRI Welfare Society, presented at the Lord Mayor of Oxfords Council Chamber, one of many recognitions I accept on behalf of my colleagues and patients. But the most important thing I have learned is simpler: service to humanity is service to God. When we put our soul, heart, mind, action, and intention toward helping people for the right reasons, things work out.
This is the last quarter of my journey: the last mile, the last mile, until the last breath. I am grateful to have lived on three continents, and to call the United States, in my opinion the best country one can live in outside ones own homeland, my home.
To everyone who has walked with me: thank you. I ask for your blessings to continue this journey, and your forgiveness if I have ever offended anyone. My deepest gratitude to my wife Alpa, my son Maharshi, my family, and my extended CBCCA work family.”
Other posts featuring Kashyap Patel on OncoDaily.